Coronavirus in New York: Live Updates as First Death is Reported – The New York Times, Nytimes.com

Officials emphasize that most coronavirus cases do not require hospitalization. Still, around the city and country, hospitals have begun adopting plans for a surge in patients. Read more about what New York City hospitals have planned

here The number of confirmed cases in New York is now over 823

As of Saturday morning, New York State had 823 confirmed coronavirus cases, Mr. Cuomo said.

The largest concentration of cases was in New York City, where officials offered conflicting numbers. The governor said People in the city have tested positive, while the mayor said

There were 192 confirmed cases in Westchester County, just north of New York City. On Long Island, there were (confirmed cases in Nassau County and in Suffolk County. Just over percent of those cases are hospitalized, Mr. Cuomo said.

The new totals were announced as New Yorkers prepared for a drastic shift in their daily lives. Limits on public gatherings in the state took effect at 5 pm Friday.

Cuomo reiterated on Saturday that jumps in the number of cases were more a reflection of the state’s ability to test people than of the outbreak’s severity. However, he noted that he expected thousands of additional cases statewide as the virus continues to spread.

“The infection rate will be massive,” he said.

Mr. Cuomo said efforts in the city and state were still focused on tamping down the disease where they could. The state tested 788 People for the virus on Friday.

The governor expressed concerns about hospital capacity, particularly in intensive care. The state has approximately 3, 0 ICU beds, about 90 percent of which are already occupied, he said.

“That’s what this is all about,” the governor said. “How do you, can you, reduce the rate of spread to a level that your hospital system can manage?”

On Friday, the federal government said that it would allow the state’s health department to authorize local labs to perform coronavirus tests.

By next week, New York could be conducting 6, 07 0 tests a day, Mr. Cuomo said on Friday. The state has opened a “drive through” testing facility in New Rochelle, a suburb of New York City

that has been at the center of the epidemic in the state . Hoboken, NJ, closes all gyms, movie theaters and day care centers.

Officials in Hoboken ordered the closure of all gyms, health clubs, day care centers and movie theaters starting on Saturday.

The order came a day after the city announced its first known positive case of coronavirus and declared a state of emergency. Hoboken’s mayor said on Friday that playgrounds, recreational facilities and fields would be closed through at least March , although the city’s parks will remain open.

Officials across New Jersey announced similar steps on Saturday. Within Bergen County, all movie theaters will close, and the American Dream mall in East Rutherford, NJ, will close starting Sunday.

As of Saturday afternoon, New Jersey reported 84 confirmed coronavirus cases. The state will set up a testing center at Bergen County Community College.

(The Archdiocese of New York cancels public masses.) Officials with the New York archdiocese announced Saturday the cancellation of public mass services after consulting with medical experts.

A day earlier the archdiocese, one of the nation’s most influential, had urged Catholics to exercise “their prudential judgment” in deciding whether to attend.

“The policy evolved,” said Joseph Zwilling, a spokesman with the archdiocese. “Yesterday it was: mass is available, you don’t have to go. Today is: mass will not be available. ”

Churchgoers will have the option to listen and watch weekly morning and Sunday mass services, to be recorded at an empty Saint Patrick’s Cathedral, via the archdiocese’s websites and radio partners, officials said.

Churches will remain open for private prayer, Mr. Zwilling added.

The halting of public mass follows the decision from Dutchess County public officials to prohibit gatherings of more than people, which includes archdiocese churches, officials said.

Prisons will temporarily ban visitors.

New York State corrections officials announced on Saturday that they would suspend visitation for the prison system’s nearly , 0 prisoners, effective until April , saying that its “greatest concern is the safety and well-being of our employees and individuals within our care.”

The Department of Corrections and Community Supervision would make “special arrangements” to help prisoners help stay in touch with loved ones, including one free phone call, two electronic messages, and five free stamps per week. Legal visits will not be impacted, the department said.

New Jersey has also suspended all personal visits to its state prisons, but will continue to allow legal visits .

New York City movie theaters begin to close.

New York City, long the fascination of many filmmakers, is shutting down many of its landmark movie theaters as part of an ongoing citywide effort to curb large gatherings.

Theaters that have announced closures include the Alamo Drafthouse in Brooklyn and Yonkers, the Brooklyn Academy of Music, the Film Society at Lincoln Center and Nitehawk Cinema. Many other city movie theaters are expected to also dim their light in the following days.

(

Earlier in the week, Broadway theaters suspended all plays and musicals through April . Amtrak reduces service on East Coast trains.Because of reduced demand, Amtrak

announced that it will temporarily switch to a Saturday schedule

on a daily basis for Northeast Corridor and Keystone Service trains. The change will begin March 29 and go through March 45

Trains along the Northeast Corridor take passengers between Boston, New York, Washington, and Virginia.

The Keystone Service line travels from New York to Harrisburg, Pa., With a stop in Philadelphia.

City schools will stay open, mayor insists, even as attendance plummets. Mayor Bill de Blasio said Saturday that New York City’s public schools will continue to operate, despite pressure from teachers and parents to join other major school districts and sh utter the system.

“I’m holding where we are right now,” Mr. de Blasio said during a news conference.

He said school closures could have myriad unintended consequences, including reducing the capacity of the health care system, which is staffed in part by public school parents.

The mayor also said he was particularly concerned about the potential for hundreds of thousands of teenagers being out of school indefinitely without adult Supervision and little to do during the day.

Education officials said that teacher absenteeism had risen this week. Preliminary numbers indicated that nearly 4 percent of teachers were absent this week, roughly double the percentage during the same time period last year.

some teachers have organized protests and are not planning on going to work on Monday, and the city’s teachers’ union has called upon its members to lobby the mayor to close schools.

The mayor said Saturday that essential city workers are across the city are continuing to come to work, and encouraged teachers to do the same. The vast majority of teachers, he said, “are showing up and doing their work.”

The mayor said that a student at I.S. 39 on Staten Island has a confirmed case of the virus, but was not in school while showing symptoms. The school will be cleaned this weekend and will be open as usual on Monday.

“We shut down the school system, we might not see it for the rest of the school year, we might not see the beginning of the new school year, ”he said. “And that weighs heavily on me.”

On Friday, the City Council speaker, Corey Johnson, called on the city to temporarily close it schools. Read about the pressure to close New York’s public schools (here (The rich have a solution for coronavirus: Escape from New York.

The city was going into lockdown, or at least that’s what people were saying – probably by Friday morning. The rumor was false but that didn’t slow it down.

New York did not go on lockdown. But these rumors did inspire those who were not in a position to flee the city to instead (panic shop .

Broad-scale emergencies never fail to reveal the fault lines in the American class system, and it was suddenly clear that well-off New Yorkers were going to go about the business of combating the coronavirus differently, with more than fortitude and purell, because they had a powerful inoculant: secondary real estate.

Outside a prewar co-op on lower Fifth Avenue on Friday morning, well-dressed people were loading cats and canvas bags into their hatchbacks. “The building is empty,’ ’one woman entering with her dog explained. “Everyone’s gone to the Hamptons.” Read more about how the 1 percent made a panicked exodus to their second homes . Shoppers clear store shelves as anxiety rises. (A day after) (New York) officials declared a state of emergency, shoppers flooded stores and emptied shelves as they (prepared for the unknown)

At a Target store at the Atlantic Terminal in Brooklyn, customers snatched up hand soap, lotion, detergent, vitamins and paper products. Cold and flu medicines were completely sold out.

Soon after the 9 a.m. opening at a Trader Joe’s in Hoboken, N.J., a line of nervous customers stretched along the block in the rain, waiting to pick through the mostly bare shelves inside. There was no chicken left, and no garbanzo beans, coffee or chips.

Once reserved for hurricanes and snowstorms, the frantic pursuit of groceries and household goods has grown more intense in the era of the coronavirus. (More inside the panic-buying here )

Nicole Hong, Jesse McKinley, Edgar Sandoval, Eliza Shapiro and Tracey Tully contributed reporting.

          

              

                  

                                             

•                                                                              

  Updated March 20,

                                                                                                                                  

•                                                        (What is a coronavirus?) It is a novel virus named for the crownlike spikes that protrude from its surface. The coronavirus can infect both animals and people and can cause a range of respiratory illnesses from the common cold to lung lesions and pneumonia.                                                   

                                              

                                                       (How contagious is the virus?) It seems to

spread very easily from person to person, especially in homes, hospitals and other confined spaces. The pathogen can travel through the air, enveloped in tiny respiratory droplets that are produced when a sick person breathes, talks, coughs or sneezes.                                                   

                                              

                                                       (Where has the virus spread?) The virus, which originated in Wuhan, China, has sickened more than 213, (0) in at least

countries and more than 5, have died. The spread has slowed in China but is gaining speed in Europe and (the United States) . World Health Organization officials said the outbreak qualifies as a pandemic.                                                                                                  

                                                       What symptoms should I look out for?

Symptoms, which can take between (two to) days to appear

, include fever, a dry cough, fatigue and difficulty breathing or shortness of breath. Milder cases may resemble the flu or a bad cold, but people may be able to pass on the virus even before they develop symptoms.                                                                                                  

                                                      

How do I keep myself and others safe?

(Washing your hands) Frequently is the most important thing you can do, along with staying at home when you’re sick and avoiding touching your face.                                                                                                  

                                                       (How can I prepare for a possible outbreak?) (Keep a) – day supply of essential medicines. flu shot. Have essential household items on hand. Have a support system in place for elderly family members.                                                                                                  

                                                       What if I’m traveling?

(The State Department) has issued a global Level 3 health advisory telling United States citizens to “reconsider travel” to all countries because of the worldwide effects of the coronavirus. This is the department’s second-highest advisory.                                                                                                  

                                                        (How long will it take to develop a treatment or vaccine?) Several drugs are being tested , and some initial findings are expected soon. A vaccine to stop the spread is still at least a year away.                                                                                                                                                    

                                                         

Read More